Former National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu, has denied allegations that she diverted ₦44 billion, insisting that no public funds were transferred to her personal account.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television, Shehu said she had alerted anti-corruption agencies and other relevant authorities to alleged financial irregularities within the agency before her suspension in December 2023.
According to her, she discovered weaknesses in the agency’s financial controls shortly after assuming office and raised her concerns with the then Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, and other officials.
She alleged that funds were moved without her approval and that several programme managers appointed by the minister operated outside the agency’s established administrative structure.
“There were movements of funds that I didn’t give approval for, didn’t authorise and didn’t consent to,” Shehu said, adding that the transactions were allegedly carried out without her knowledge.
She further claimed that she submitted formal petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over the alleged irregularities before she was suspended.
Shehu said that instead of being protected as a whistleblower, she was removed from office about 10 weeks after reporting the matter.
Rejecting allegations that she diverted ₦44 billion, Shehu said investigators had not traced any of the funds to her or members of her family.
“I never transferred ₦44 billion to any personal account. The EFCC never recovered a penny from my account, my family’s account, or any friend’s account,” she said.
She explained that the transactions under investigation involved payments to licensed service providers and financial institutions responsible for disbursing funds to beneficiaries of the government’s social intervention programmes.
Shehu said she fully cooperated with the EFCC’s investigation and submitted documents and other evidence in support of her claims.
She also called on President Bola Tinubu to ensure that the findings of investigations into the agency are made public.
“My integrity is my asset. I may have made administrative mistakes, but I am not corrupt and I did not take funds meant for poor and vulnerable Nigerians,” she said.
Shehu’s remarks come amid ongoing scrutiny of the management of social investment programmes under the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
